Petersburg Cocaine Trafficker Sentenced to over 17 Years in Federal Prison

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 28, 2014

RICHMOND, Va. – Shawn Rives, 33, of Petersburg, Virginia, was sentenced yesterday to 210 months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release, for possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine.

Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Adam S. Lee, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Field Office; and John I. Dixon III, Petersburg Chief of Police, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer.

Rives was indicted on Oct. 16, 2013 on two counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base, commonly known as “crack,” and three counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine hydrochloride. When Rives failed to appear at his arraignment on the charges on Nov. 7, 2013, the court issued a warrant for his arrest. Rives remained a fugitive until Feb. 25, 2014, when the U.S. Marshal Service Fugitive Task Force, in conjunction with the FBI, arrested Rives at an apartment complex in Richmond, Virginia. According to an affidavit filed in the case, as the Fugitive Task Force agents made entry into the apartment, Rives kicked through the drywall of a closet in the residence, squeezed through the wall, and entered the adjacent apartment through the bedroom closet, where he attempted to hide.

Rives pleaded guilty on May 22, 2014 to distributing crack cocaine. According to court documents, law enforcement officers executed search warrants in March and October 2012 at residences in Petersburg where Rives was staying, or that were associated with him. At both locations, authorities recovered cocaine, chemicals used to prepare cocaine for sale, digital scales, baggies for distribution, and U.S. currency from the sale of cocaine. In addition, in June 2012, during a search incident to the arrest of Rives, officers recovered cocaine and $2,472 from Rives, along with additional cocaine and a digital scale from a vehicle.

In a statement of facts filed with his guilty plea, Rives admitted that he distributed at least five kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride and between one kilogram and 2.8 kilograms of cocaine base during 2013.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Richmond Field Office and the Petersburg Bureau of Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Angela Mastandrea-Miller prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:13-cr-175.